Shloka 8
व्याधि-गुण-साम्योपदेशः | Discourse on Affliction, Guṇa-Equilibrium, and the Inner Battle
अथवा ते स्वभावो<यं येन पार्थावकृष्यसे । दृष्टवा सभागतां कृष्णामेकवस्त्रां रजस्वलाम् । मिषतां पाण्डवेयानां न तस्य स्मर्तुमिच्छसि
athavā te svabhāvo ’yaṃ yena pārthāvakṛṣyase | dṛṣṭvā sabhāgatāṃ kṛṣṇām ekavastrāṃ rajasvalām | miṣatāṃ pāṇḍaveyānāṃ na tasya smartum icchasi |
அல்லது, ஓ பார்த்தா, உன்னைப் பின்வாங்கச் செய்பது உன் இயல்பேதானா? பாண்டவர்கள் பார்த்துக் கொண்டிருக்க, ஒரே ஆடை அணிந்த ரஜஸ்வல நிலையில் இருந்த கிருஷ்ணை (த்ரௌபதி) சபைக்குள் இழுத்துவரப்பட்டாள்; ஆனாலும் இப்போது அவளை அந்த நிலையில்கூட நினைக்க விரும்பவில்லையா?
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames moral responsibility as inseparable from memory: to forget or refuse to recall an injustice—especially the public humiliation of a vulnerable person—signals a failure of dharma. Vāyudeva’s rebuke implies that a kṣatriya’s integrity is tested not only in battle but in acknowledging and responding to wrongdoing witnessed in the court.
Vāyudeva addresses Pārtha (Arjuna), challenging him for shrinking back and for not wanting to remember the earlier outrage in the assembly where Draupadī was dragged in, wearing a single garment and menstruating, while the Pāṇḍavas looked on. The speech uses that remembered humiliation as a moral goad to confront complacency and restore righteous resolve.